GF Gran Costa Adeje

We generally enjoyed our stay at GF Gran Costa Adeje and there were certainly positives to our holiday. However, there were a number of things which, taken together, meant that for us the overall experience didn’t quite feel like the five-star standard we had expected.

The food was okay and there was generally a reasonable choice, although we didn’t find it particularly outstanding for a five-star hotel.

One relatively small thing that became frustrating was the service for tea and coffee at breakfast. There was no self-service option, meaning you had to wait for a member of staff to come over to take your hot drink order. On several mornings we were left waiting quite a long time before even being acknowledged, simply to get a cup of tea or coffee. A self-service tea and coffee station would make such a difference.

We were also surprised that there weren’t easily accessible water refill stations where guests could fill their own bottles. These may sound like small things individually, but they’re the little conveniences and touches that, for us, help distinguish a true five-star experience.

Unfortunately, our biggest disappointment came on our final day and involved my sister’s medical needs.

My sister has epilepsy and the hotel had been informed of her medical condition by TUI prior to our stay. Our checkout was at 12pm, but we weren’t leaving for the airport until approximately 3:30pm. I had therefore been asking for several days during our holiday whether something could be arranged so that she would have somewhere safe, quiet and dark where she could lie down and rest before travelling, particularly as tiredness can trigger a seizure for her.

Despite raising this several times in advance, I was repeatedly told to ask again closer to departure.

On our departure morning, I explained the situation again and was told that retaining our room for approximately another 3.5 hours would cost €65.

I want to be clear that our disappointment isn’t simply because we were charged for late checkout. We understand that late checkout is normally chargeable and subject to availability. Nor were we expecting to keep our room for free simply because we wanted to extend our holiday by a few hours.

This was about a genuine medical need.

I explained that it didn’t even have to be our existing room and asked whether there was any other suitable room or private space where my sister could lie down if necessary. We would have been perfectly happy with any appropriate alternative. No consideration was given at all.

The alternative suggested was a shower room. Unfortunately, there was no bed or suitable place for her to lie down, so although we appreciated that something had been suggested, it simply didn’t address the medical need we had explained.

In the end, we paid the €65 late-checkout charge so that my sister could have the room and somewhere to rest before our flight.

Unfortunately, when we returned to the room, the beds had been left raised up — presumably so that underneath them could be cleaned. We then had to wait for somebody to come and put them back down. Considering the entire reason we had paid the additional charge was so that my sister could lie down and rest before travelling, this was particularly frustrating and defeated the purpose of having paid to retain the room until it was eventually sorted.

When a gentleman came to fix the beds, he knocked on the door but then entered before we had been given a reasonable opportunity to get to the door and answer it. There were three women in the room in towels at the time and we felt extremely uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only incident involving somebody entering our room unexpectedly that day. At around 12pm, a lady carrying a clipboard and pen opened our room door to check whether we had left. She did not knock first, and I was in the process of getting changed.

This was particularly surprising because by this point we had already arranged and paid for our late checkout, so the hotel should have been aware that the room was still occupied.

We fully appreciate that staff need to check rooms and that maintenance staff may need access when something needs fixing. Our issue is simply that guests should be given the opportunity to answer the door before somebody enters, particularly when the hotel knows the room is still occupied. Being walked in on while getting changed and then later while the three of us were in towels made us feel very uncomfortable.

I do want to mention something positive regarding housekeeping. The lady who cleaned our room throughout the week always did a lovely job, and we were very happy with how she looked after the room. Our concerns about the incidents on our final day shouldn’t detract from the good service she personally provided.

The whole situation was just a really disappointing way to finish the holiday. After trying for several days to make suitable arrangements because of my sister’s medical condition, eventually paying the €65, returning to find the beds raised and unusable, having to wait for that to be rectified and experiencing two uncomfortable incidents involving people entering the room, we were honestly more than ready to leave by the time our transfer arrived.

That’s such a shame, because we did enjoy aspects of our stay and I don’t want this review to suggest that the entire holiday was bad — it wasn’t.

However, between the breakfast service, lack of convenient water refill facilities and, most importantly, the way our final day was handled, there were a number of aspects that didn’t quite live up to what we personally expect from a five-star hotel.

For us, five-star isn’t only about how a hotel looks or the facilities it has. It’s also about the little touches, attentiveness, privacy and how guests are looked after when they genuinely need some additional help.

Unfortunately, what should have been a relaxed final few hours before travelling home instead left us feeling disappointed, uncomfortable and ultimately more than ready to leave, which is not how you want to feel at the end of a holiday you had otherwise enjoyed.

I hope the hotel takes this feedback constructively, particularly regarding how guests with medical needs are supported and ensuring staff give guests sufficient opportunity to answer the door before entering an occupied room.

Staff are exceptional for the most part. Reception staff are helpful. Kids club and entertainment staff are amazing. Restaurant staff were for the most part just as good.

Never stayed at an all inclusive where you can see the chefs cooking everything in the middle of the restaurant and they really work incredibly hard. That said, some of the food was overcooked or bland and generally not that great. However, the cuisine changes nightly so you don’t grow tired of it and a few staples remain should you not be fond of the nights offering.

For drinks or dishes outside of the main restaurant, you’ll find items have 2 prices. A regular price and an all inclusive price. Not everything is included in all inclusive and requires an additional fee. Other all inclusives I’ve stayed at had premium drinks which I understood, but not premium meals. A margarita pizza is included, but other pizzas are not as an example.

My only real criticism on the restaurant is, if staying all inclusive, the system is archaic. You have a piece of paper around the size of a credit card that you need everytime you go into the main restaurant for them to tick off that you had been there. That piece of paper gets forgotten in the room or lost a number of times. I have no idea why they don’t use an app or even an excel spread sheet to manage that process so the guest can relax rather than worry about this tiny piece of paper.

The pools are warm and the team puts on some great games which are a lot of fun. The pool is a little rough though if playing these games (volleyball or basketball) - so your feet will thank you for wearing watershoes when playing. I didn’t and I’m regretting it.

Lastly, you are not allowed to reserve sun lounges by the pool, but this isn’t fully enforced. I went down to the pool one morning to work a little while my daughter slept. I had my bag with me and my laptop. This was around 8am. Almost every lounger had a towel on it reserving it.

At 9am I spoke to my wife and said I just need to put my laptop back in the safe and did so. In the 10 minutes it took me to get my laptop to the safe and back, they had removed my bag from the lounger, however every other lounger around me still had people’s towels on them. When I complained, I was told I’m not allowed to reserve a lounger. I explained that I wasn’t reserving it. I was actually using it at that point in time. And was told that I shouldn’t be using it either. They also refused to give me my bag back before 10am.

This contained a lot of my possessions as I had been sitting there working. They didn’t care. My daughter went into the restaurant and they swiftly complained that she was barefoot. But her candles were in the bag they took which they wouldn’t return. All in all, it was ok. I enjoyed my stay but I wouldn’t return.

The staff helped organise a birthday cake for my daughter (€16). And the entertainment team made her feel special.

Had the best stay at the gf gran Hotel is amazing so grand ! Lovely and clean. Rooms clean modern and very nice Air conditioning great Pools great Food great Great location Very happy with our stay completely and beautiful decor

Only small negative the floor around the the small pool was always dirty our feet were always black without flip flops